Texas GOP Moves On Without Bush

Published 8:00 pm, Saturday, January 26, 2002

With President Bush off the state ballot, Republicans won't have his coattails to rely on this election year.

Nor will they have the full force of his political consultant, Karl Rove, who moved with Bush from the governor's office to the White House.

But Bush casts a long shadow in Texas, and GOP candidates hope to reap benefits from his lasting popularity.

"George W. Bush, President Bush, is not on the statewide ticket. But his spirit is here. This is his home. This is Bush country, and the candidates on the Republican ticket are part of his coalition," said Reggie Bashur, a GOP political consultant.

Democrats, who lost all the statewide offices to Republicans in 1998, see a comeback opportunity with Bush gone.

Bush not only won two gubernatorial races but was adept at helping to draw votes for other Republicans, said Bill Miller, a consultant who works with politicians of both major parties.

"The Democrats have to be pleased that he's not at the top of the ballot," Miller said.

Bush was widely viewed as a man with a warm personality who worked across party lines to achieve his carefully selected legislative agenda. Those qualities, plus good economic times and a political machine led by Rove, won him the state's top job and catapulted him onto the national stage.

Texas Republicans riding to victory with him in 1998 were Rick Perry as lieutenant governor, who has moved up to governor; John Cornyn, the attorney general who is running for U.S. Senate; and Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander, now seeking re-election.

The new wave of GOP leadership is ready, said Ted Royer, spokesman for the Republican Party of Texas. "George W. Bush opened a lot of doors for Texas Republicans, and it's time for our candidates to step through them," Royer said.

It is expected the president will assist in Cornyn's bid for the Senate with control of Congress at stake.

In the governor's race, Democrat Tony Sanchez _ a former financial backer of Bush _ is using Bush's name in attacks on Perry. Sanchez has called Perry an "accidental" governor because Perry inherited the job when Bush became president.

"Rick Perry has been given a career path by George W. Bush," Sanchez said recently. "My message is this: Get ready, fella, because there ain't no George Bush on the ticket this time. Rick, you're going to have to fight your own battle this time around."

Fallout from the collapse of Enron Corp. is beginning to ripple through Texas politics.

Aside from Bush's gubernatorial campaign contributions, Perry and Cornyn got the largest donations from Enron executives and employees, receiving $227,000 and $188,000.

Republicans and Democrats alike accepted Enron contributions, Royer noted. Bashur predicted efforts to use Enron as an issue against the GOP won't work.

"I don't think Texans will have a lot of patience for politicians who try to exploit that tragic situation," he said.